Cooking on the Light Side
Smart Recipes for Bright Skin and Vitality
From breakfast to lunch, from soups, salads, and snacks, to dinner and desserts, Cooking on the Light Side presents more than 175 recipes for such delicious sounding creations as “Creamy White Asparagus Soup” and “Crock-Pot Beef Brisket and Gravy.” Not to overlook the sweets: “Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins” and “Black Walnut Tea Bread.” Bon appetit.
But what quality do these seemingly disparate recipes share? The unifying element is that most of the ingredients are infused with a variety of sulfur compounds, which serve to protect our cells from exposure to environmental toxins. Each meal uses foods that, Thiênna Ho says, will brighten skin tone, provide strength and stamina, and improve total body health.
Thiênna, a nutritional scientist, skin care specialist, and founder of Thiênna, Inc., a company that manufactures and sells natural nutritional supplements and skin care products, tested the diet herself “diligently and patiently for eight long years.” Her skin dramatically brightened and acquired an even tone, she writes. In addition, her strength and stamina increased. Thiénna holds four Guinness World Records for physical challenges.
Cooking on the Light Side recipes use a wide range of wholesome fruits, vegetables, and meats. Her previous book, Eat Your Way to Brighter Skin, provided the scientific rationale for the ingredients she recommends. The recipes have a subtle Asian influence, but most items can be found in full-service grocery stores.
Thiênna advises eating at least three sulfur-rich vegetables daily, and as many varieties of these vegetables as possible during the week. She lists fifty vegetables, ranging from the familiar cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli, to the less well-known kohlrabi, wasabi root, and bitter gourd. In addition, she lists grains, nuts, mushrooms, and legumes rich in sulfur compounds.
Each recipe is paired with a color photo of the finished meal, and tips are provided for choosing the best produce and meat, and using the correct cooking practices to retain vitamins and minerals. Thiênna provides preparation and cooking times, along with nutritional information and sulfur content. This is not a diet designed specifically for weight loss, but she lists calorie content for each serving. The meals are low in fat, and most have fewer than 500 calories, thanks to her “one fat rule.” A recipe with olive oil will use no other fats, for example.
Thiênna promises her “diet plan” will provide “renewed vigor and amazing skin in just 30 days.” Strictly adhering to the plan will prove, or not, that these dishes will produce the effects Thiênna claims, but the recipes sound good enough to be worth trying for taste alone. At the very least, the book offers unique, healthy, low-fat recipes requiring minimal preparation, in a well-organized and nicely designed format.
Reviewed by
Ruth Douillette
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
